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Endometriosis: Effective Treatment Via Ablation In Women

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Endometriosis can be most simply defined as abnormal growth of the tissue that normally lines the uterus, outside the uterus. This chronic disease can range from mild to severe. Mild to moderate endometriosis can lead to infertility and severe cases could be life threatening. Due to the prevalence of this condition, a common concern is fertility in women. There is much debate about how effective treatment via ablation is in fertility.
Endometriosis lesions can affect the outside of the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, vagina, cervix, bowel and lining of the pelvic cavity. The problem with these lesions is that they contain specialized cells just like the ones present inside the uterus, that are meant to shed during the menstrual cycle. During normal menstruation, the blood and cells leave the body via the vagina, but the blood and cells from the endometrial growths have no way to leave the body. …show more content…

These options include diagnostic laparoscopic surgery and/or ablation of the lesions and medical treatment with hormone therapy to alter the frequency or severity of menstrual bleeding.
During laparoscopic treatment, surgeons locate the lesions and use laser cautery to destroy the cells. They may also use surgical tools to excise scar tissue. Not all of the lesions present may be treatable due to location. For instance, some may be present in areas around the bowel that are too thin or fragile and could cause other problems. In some cases, endometriosis lesions cause scar tissue on or around the ovaries and fallopian tubes which leads to infertility. The idea is that removal of this scar tissue may increase chances of fertility and conception, but this is not always the case.
Medical treatment with hormones like birth control is another option for those with endometriosis. This does not obviously improve fertility, but it may provide relief or improvement in excessive bleeding which causes severe

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